JILL PAINTER: L.A. Kings come up short on Twitter, too

If the Kings only had to apologize for their 2-1 loss to San Jose in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, that would've been alarming enough.

Instead, the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings apologized for inappropriate comments made on the team's Twitter feed during Tuesday's game in San Jose.

Longtime Kings fan Kevin Ryder, who is part of the KROQ (106.7 FM) "Kevin & Bean" morning show, was guest tweeting for the @lakings account during the second period. When Anze Kopitar was tackled during the game, Ryder tweeted out an insensitive comment, likening it to sexual assault.

Negative reaction was swift and the popular sports website Deadspin quickly picked up on it.

The Kings eventually deleted the tweet and sent out: "We apologize for the tweets that came from a guest of our organization. They were inappropriate and do not reflect the LA Kings."

Ryder also issued an apology on his Twitter feed. Sort of.

"My apology. I made a poor choice in the wording of my tweet. I wish I had used different words. If you were hurt by me, I'm sorry. I get angry when groups like Deadspin see it as kindling to make a fire for themselves. That's worse than my choice of words."

What's worse is making light of rape.

The Kings' Twitter account has always fancied itself as edgy, and this is in its bio: "Just a quick note, we apologize for any future tweets that may offend you."